


Gravity: The Fundamental Things Apply.

by ballpoint



Category: Marvel 616, Young Avengers
Genre: AU, F/M, Future Fic, comicsbigbang, young avengers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-13
Updated: 2010-05-13
Packaged: 2017-10-09 10:36:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/86350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballpoint/pseuds/ballpoint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eli left Young Avengers to become a librarian, and moved to somewhere not NYC. It's five years down the road, and he's peacefully living his life until Kate shows up on his doorstep, dragging him back into the world he renounced all those years ago. Eli doesn't necessarily want to go back, but there's the small matter of the mystery behind his grandfather's death to sort out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gravity: The Fundamental Things Apply.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [muccamuckk](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=muccamuckk).



> Takes all of the published YA canon up to this point (May 2010), including YA: Siege. To all the people on my flist who wanted Eli as librarian fic. Erm... I hope this suits.**artist** art is [here](http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g39/doctorvpics/comicbigbang24SM.png), [here](http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g39/doctorvpics/comicbigbang24kate.png) and [here](http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g39/doctorvpics/comicbigbang24elena.png). Love to [](http://doctorv.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**doctorv**](http://doctorv.dreamwidth.org/) because xie's a true sweetheart. Thank you so much.

** Chapter One**

 

Eli took off at a run, keeping pace with his fellow traceurs. Sighting the back of the bench before him, Eli broke full tilt, lifting his arms as he came nearer to the bench, before lifting and pushing himself up and over. His muscles were smooth and limber, his body warm. Dominique was ahead of him, angling her body so that she hit the ground on all fours, minimising the shock to her legs and arms, rolling out her landing. Eli followed suit, doing a cat leap, jumping from the ledge, and using the balls of his feet to scramble on the wall's surface, before grabbing the edge with his hands and pulling himself up and over.

The route was new- and challenging. His feet struck the stairs, and Eli grabbed the railing, hauling himself over it. A quick scurry up the fire escape, and he paused to make sure his muscles weren't singing too badly. Mentally calculating the distance between the buildings, Eli realised that he could make the jump, and committed, hot on the heels of Adam Tsang. Dropping down into the next alley, this one not so clean and sterile as the other one. Eli cleared the overturned trashcans with ease, and scrambled up and over the dumpster.

_Heh, cleared it_, and Eli kept on going, eyeing the six foot high wall in front of him. Too easy. He could make that. Eli ran full speed to the wall, as if the cops were after him, he took off with the left leg, put his right foot on the wall and pushed up while throwing his body upwards to gain height. Eli kicked downwards with his foot on the wall, and eyed his target ledge, before getting his elbows above edge and using his momentum to push him up and over.

_Man, easy. _

"Hey, good run," Adam said, as he and Eli exchanged high fives. While they waited for the rest of the traceurs to arrive, Eli stretched, standing on one leg, holding the ankle of his other foot behind his body and towards his buttocks. Counted to sixty and changed positions.

"Yeah, too bad fall's coming." Dominique said while unscrewing her waterbottle. She threw her head back and took a long swig of water before taking the bottle away from her lips, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"You mean, it's here." Craig, another fellow traceur pointed out, as he unzipped his bag, fished out a towel and dabbed at his face. "That means that it's all indoors from now till the winter. Fall sucks."

Eli disagreed. Although he had lived here for the past four years and sixteen seasons, he had yet to be blasé towards a Chicago fall.

Unlike New York, this particular season seemed more _vital_ here somehow, when the leaves turned colour and set the cityscape on fire with their rich hues of gold and red; nature's glory shoved man made wonders of the buildings like Sears Tower in the background. Fall came to Chicago on gust of winds, the bite of air, and the shouts and encouragement of the weary combatants of the Chicago marathon as they shuffled along Adams Street.

Then again, being a transplant from NYC probably made Chicago's seasons a lot more romantic to him, than they were to Tsang and Craig who had lived here all their lives.

"That was sweet," Dominique said. "A good send off for the outdoor season, I think."

"Thanks for the jam, guys." Eli hitched his backpack on his back.

"No worries, Eli. Say, are you coming over to Justin's next week? He just came back from London, and hopes to have his mini documentary cut by then."

"I dunno," Eli stroked his chin. "I'm hoping, but I have some late evenings at work for the next couple of weeks, so."

"Well, whatever, man. We'll catch up later, okay?"

Another round of high fives. "Yeah."

oOo

 

Eli lived in an apartment complex on the edge of Mount Greenwood. The area was nice and not so expensive to be out of his price range, and yet it was down to earth enough for girls to be playing double dutch on the sidewalks, and for people to be sitting on the steps on this early fall day, and Eli really liked that.

"Hey, Eli!"

"Hey, guys." Eli waved to the girls who were playing hopscotch on the side walk. The six of them were bundled up in jackets and mufflers to keep the cold at bay, even though it was early September. From his vantage point, they all looked like Kenny from _South Park_ with nothing but their eyes peering out at him.

"Wanna play?"

Eli tapped his watch. "Not today. Besides, the last time I played, I beat you, fair and square."

"You cheated."

"Says you."

With a huff, the girls went back to playing and Eli shook his head. He would never understand ten year old girls. _Or any sort of female at all_, he thought, as he tripped up the stairs to his apartment.

After a change into his t-shirt and sweats, and a microwaved meal of mac and cheese, he dropped into the sofa, powered up his iBook, got into Safari and clicked on a bookmark.

_ONTD_capes_

There were titles, and hyperlinks all over the pages.

According to the original posters of the various articles, Spiderwoman was still spinning her webs. Luke Cage was still being a bad ass, and Jessica Jones now back in action as Jewel. Wow. Eli tilted his head, allowed the information to percolate. Jessica Jones as a superhero? He remembered all those years ago when she interviewed him - when he had left the Young Avengers for the first time,- and she seemed so _nice_. Snarky, with a slightly sarcastic sense of humour, and really cool. Yeah, Jessica Jones was cool, really kick ass.

_Psst! Just in. According to rumours, Iron Man and Captain America have retired from the Avengers. Citing 'new blood' and the strains of the Superhero fraternity after the -_

_ Jan Van Dyne is back? Yes darlings, and relaunching her brand. It seems that VD as a brand for a fashion house wasn't working. I wonder why?_

Eli backspaced to the deep blue and white of the homepage, and scowled.

As much as any information about Captain America and Iron Man could not help but be interesting, that was not what he was looking for. After a few more clicks, and scrolling through the archives to more posts, there was nothing there. Absently chewing his lower lip, Eli scanned the comments in the posts. The ONTD_capes posters tended to know what was up and liked to gossip. Eli moved the cursor, clicked on a few threads, a ball of tension coiling in the pit of his stomach. Hopefully, there would be nothing about the YA at all.

The threads had their own protocols, with almost a palatable vitriol coming from all sides. From the sarcastic- to the wounded sniff. Followed by the scorn of dismissal before they piled on images and various animated .gifs.

-_Seriously? Cool story, bro_

-_I'm SORRY if you think that it's so ghey if Captain America and Iron Man might be a couple. Love comes in all forms, and if you can't you see that's a beautiful thing, well I'm sorry for you_

-_Slashers, whatever_.

-_I know, right? The world is not your... yaoi oyster, guys_.

-_I don't know what y'all are smoking, but you need to stop practising the art of dumbfu, STAT_

-_LOL, no. Try again, fandom tard_.

-_Red Skull lives! Lives!_

-_B&amp;. Just so that there's no misunderstanding, banned!_

 

Just like clockwork. Reasoned debate now dispensed with, the posters descended into the usual online squabble of animated images and .gif posters.

_A screencap of an i-phone screen with the caption "Your argument is invalid."_

_A picture of a bunny with a pancake on its head. _

Like a cross between screaming monkeys at typewriters, and addled prisoners throwing cyber poo in the walls of the forum, it was just another day online.

Eli chuckled at the various .gifs, appreciating the humour as he continued to comb the archives. Clicking out of that page, he tripped over to can can, a site for dedicated cape watchers who were not as evolved as ONTD_capes.

Now that was a scary thought.

-/I wanna take U2 a ghey bah/ Tony Stark still doesn't remember SHRA, LOL. What is he, a 'tard?

-/anon co/ LOL, cold busted. SHRA, is dead bb, Y U (still) Mad Tho?

/teabagz for justice/ Tony was right. If only he could remember why he was right. OMG, dying from LULZs _____flatlines_____

/fretz/ Have you heard about Sako? She was found--- [redacted] and the media hasn't-

Eli shook his head at the message. No one wrote complete thoughts any more.

Ten blogs of online snark and one hour later, Eli logged off the 'net and shut down his iBook. He pushed it off his lap onto the space beside him, rested his elbows on his knees, and stared at the wall. Off white, relatively bare, save for a photoshop some online fan artist had made of his grandpa as Captain America, and in the upper left corner, a picture of his grandmother, in three quarter profile, with one of those impossible church hats on her head.

"Grandma," he murmured. "I'm still here."

Drumming his fingers on the surface of the ibook, Eli glanced at his surroundings. He lived in a one bedroom flat, with an open plan everything. There was the living room slash dining room, slash kitchen -and the side table with a lamp that he got from an old thrift shop. He remembered scrubbing the paint off the table, putting in a bit of elbow, with the flakes of paint in his hair (when he was growing it out of his chrome dome, only to shave it down again), and in his nostrils. Ugh. The sofa he sat on, cadged from a former tenant who was moving out.

After everything that happened, he'd managed to make a life here. He lifted the lid of his iBook again, thought about rebooting it, only to change his mind and close it again. A few minutes spent just drumming his hands on the surface of the Mac, a brief glance at his watch, and then bed.

oOo

 

Eli liked his job. At twenty two, with the ink on his degree still sticky from its newness, he got a stint at the Chicago Public Library. The work was hard at turns – restocking, shelving, moving and shifting books in various places. Doing visual merchandising, tracing and logging books inbetween.

In addition to that, in the evenings, he had to man one of the desks for check outs, and be on hand to answer all sorts of questions, gracefully.

_Why is the sky blue?_

_Why do we measure space in light years?_

"What do you mean, I have to cite a twitter?" Elena Castro – if the name on the card was correct- asked.

"You refer to it in your essay, used it as inspiration for your paper Ms Castro," Eli explained. "So, it's necessary."

"That blows, pretty much. Math is all I came here to do, and pretty much why I'll be paying student loans for the rest of my natural life. Everything else is noise."

Eli found himself admiring Elena's spunk. She was cute, her curly hair framing her face like a halo. Her eyes dark and sparking in a face the colour of teak. A twinkle in her nose confirmed that yes, Virginia, she had a nose stud. Still, for all her pulchritude, Ms Castro did not believe in the power of citation. This slight could not go unchallenged, so Eli repeated himself.

"Seriously, Eli? That's your name, right? Eli? "

"Yeah."

"Life is too short for us to be talking citation, be it Chicago or Harvard. Also, it's a Friday evening, and tomorrow will be Saturday."

_Hey, wait. Come again?_ Elena must have seen the quizzical expression on his face, and she sputtered a laugh before putting her hand over her mouth, realising that they were in the library.

"Are you asking me on a ...date?"

"Wow, and smart too," Elena handed over her books to be scanned. "I can't help it. You're anal about citations and really, really cute. I'm also at loose ends and going to crash Caiprinha. When are you finished?"

"At eight."

"Great, we'll meet here. See you then." With a wave of her hand with the muted clattering of bangles and her halo of curls bouncing around her shoulders, Elena departed. Eli stared at her retreating figure, not surprised when Alicia, looked over from her workstation, and raised her eyebrows. "Wow, Eli. She's really after your ass, isn't she?"

Eli ignored her, because he did not really need to tell his workmate that women who clearly knew how to handle their business and expected others to fall in line made him weak. Oh, yeah.

_Caiprinha_ turned out to be a latin dance club which functioned as a dance studio in the day, and did licensed events at night. Elena dragged him onto the dance floor, refusing to take no for an answer.

"It sucks that you gotta lead, and I have to follow, but that's Meringue for you." Elena shouted in his ear over the hollow, wooden clicks of the clavé and the fast, rhythmic beats of a Latin American band he'd never heard of. Elena did a graceful shimmy, a smooth movement of her shoulders and hips, her feet performing fluid and complicated forward and backward steps, before launching into a spin that sent her skirt and hair flying.

"C'mon, you gotta dance," Elena said, after she reversed the direction of her spin and hit the wall of his chest. "It's early, before the rest of the crowd get in at eleven."

"That's..." Eli glanced at his watch. "Two hours and forty five minutes."

Elena grinned. "I'm sure you're a fast learner."

oOo

 

Life quickly settled into a routine after that. Work, parkour, and now Elena, when she had time away from her thesis.

"I am aiming to solve an unsolvable math equation, by the end of my Ph D– or else I've pretty much wasted my funding," she explained as they shared a meal of fried plantain, roast chickens with lashes of guacamole at his place. They were sitting on the rug in front of the TV, with the game console on pause as they attacked the food on their plates with the scrape of cutlery against porcelain. "That's what I'm going to make my name on. If I can crack the code, either proving that ten is a solitary number, or finding a solution to the _Collatz Problem_, I can die a happy woman. You?"

"Me? Dying a happy woman? Girl, no. Let me explain it to you, you see..."

"Hyuk, hyuk," Elena rolled her eyes. "Don't quit your day job, Eli. Sooo not you. I mean, what's your ambition? Making a better _Dewey Decimal System_. No lie, I've always admired the logic and systems in that."

"Says the girl who doesn't cite."

Elena leaned over the plates between them, and pressed her lips against his. "_Dio_," she said. "It's a good thing that you're so cute, Eli, or else you'd be insufferable."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Elena drew back, and the mood changed as she checked her watch. "I gotta go," she pushed herself to her feet, scooped her iBook and the rest of her stuff into the gaping maw of her messenger bag. "I have teaching college level Math 101, as well as prepping for my viva. Bummer. I pretty much give you permission to date, because I won't be coming back this side any time soon. We were good fun."

"I understand."

"Thanks," Elena flashed him a grateful smile as she dragged her jacket on, and tugged her gloves on her hands. "I'll call you ...whenever. What will you do without me until then?"

"Probably just be bored. Parkour. Cross-training. Work. The odd game of hoops." Eli grinned at her. Their brief romance had come to an end, and there would be no drama from either side. He knew he should be saying, 'Thank you, baby Jesus' for being with women who operated with a minimum of fuss, but still. For a brief moment, Eli wondered what it would be like having a relationship with someone who actually wore her heart on her sleeve for a change.

"No adventures without me," Elena said as she opened the door. "I mean it, I'll scalp you if you d- whoops, too late."

"Ha, funny."

"I'm hilarious like that." Elena wagged her fingers in a jaunty wave. "Later."

The door clicked, shut, leaving nothing but the sudden ring of silence. Eli gave a lusty sigh. The games console was still there, with the TV slumbering on stand by. He was tempted to just push the plates to one side, restart the game, and see how many levels he could get before dawn came.

The plates and mugs put paid to that line of thought for the time being as Eli shook his head. He had been raised too well by his grandmother to ignore dirty dishes in the middle of the living room, beside him while playing video games. If she were still living, she would have boxed his ears just for even having that whisper of a thought in mind.

_No adventures without me_, Elena's words came back to him, as Eli scraped the remains of their meal together. He stood, the cups balancing precariously on top of the plates, but he got to the sink without incident.

No, Eli thought, while he washed the dishes, getting out the dish scrubber for the oil and sticky gravy. Nowhere near likely. He had hung up his shield and costume _years_ ago. There was no way in hell he'd go back to that right now. Especially after how he parted company with the rest of the Young Avengers.

With great effort, Eli pushed the rest of that memory away.

oOo

 

Mid fall, and the murmurs of the wind stepped up to howls. Today had been the worst of it, the winds at gale force, and with an eye on his surroundings, Eli hurried up the steps, and pressed the door against the wind as it clicked into place.

If Eli had been a suspicious man, and believed in omens, he'd think that the winds, and the slight flicker of the lights in the passage way were pathetic fallacies trying to warn him of a metaphorical bad moon rising. He was not a superhero any more, Eli told himself as he turned the key in the lock to his apartment. He had left that five years and seven hundred mi-

As soon the door swung open, Eli realised that he was not alone. On the surface, he seemed to be. The room as tidy as he left it... but his iBook was out of place. He knew he left it under the sofa, and not on his side table. Eli flattened himself against the wall, slid his hand to his phone to call the police but stopped for three reasons. One, the police might arrest _him_ even though it was his apartment which had been broken into ; two – phones tended to light up like a Christmas tree when activated nowadays – and the intruder already knew he was here.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_, Eli gave himself a few seconds to get angry, then pushed it away. He focused on the room, eyeing the hazards. The intruder might be hiding in the bathroom off the passageway, but the slight quiver of breathing scuppered that idea. Again, Eli had two chances- either wait until the thief moved, or move himself. There was also the threat of guy having a firearm- or hiding behind the sofa, but that was a risk he'd have to take.

In three quick hops, Eli covered the distance from door to sofa. Using his arms as a vault to ease his movement, cleared the top of the sofa as he went up and over, angling one knee down to force the air out of his shadowy opponent's stomach. If he broke or bruised a rib, that would be a bonus. The intruder, sensing his intent, rolled off the couch, and bounded to the other side of the room.

Oh, _hell_, no. I don't think so.

Eli rolled out of his landing, sprang into a defensive crouch, with his guard up, hands ready to grapple and strike. His opponent raised a hand, the outline of a small, dark object visible in his grasp. Eli tensed, slipping into instant alertness. He waited, ready to duck at the last minute, and barrel into the guy's midsection.

"Back off, Eli. Now."

"No." Eli rasped in disbelief. He shifted and fumbled for the switch of the goose head lamp on the table beside the sofa. It came on at first click, throwing the room into nothing but light. Right in front of him, stood Kate Bishop, wiping at her bloody nose.

"Yes," she answered his unasked question. "Lock the door."

**Chapter Two**

 

Kate Bishop. Eli took the time to gather his thoughts together, as he turned the latch of the door. That task done, he rested his shoulders against the door, and stared. Certain things had not changed in five years. Still five foot five, her hair black and tumbling over her shoulders and back, and she still had an affinity for purple. On the other hand, the years had changed her some. Leaner, and harder from what he could see, as she sagged against the wall, gone the coltishness with her teenage years. Her cheekbones were more defined, making her face less round, more angular. However, when she took off her shades, her eyes were that same hot, bright blue, despite the developing shiner. Kate had never been coy when they met, but the smile that she gave him now was confident, even sly.

A knock out punch and one, two, three.

Eli had never been immune to Kate's charms. Time and distance, thankfully, at least made him wary.

"What are you doing here? I thought -" he cleared his throat. "I thought after we last spoke, we were pretty much done."

"Sorry, something came up, and rendered that point moot." Kate lifted her eyebrows, and once Eli got past the shock of her being in his apartment, he noticed the furrow in her brow, and the fact that she was gnawing at her lower lip. Her eyes were still bright, but with the glassy sheen of pain. With great effort, Eli reigned in his temper and remembered his manners. There would be time enough for them to argue.

"The bathroom is that way," he pointed to the passageway. "There are painkillers and bandages in the medicine cabinent."

Kate gave a sharp nod, turned on her heel and walked away, taking her staves and leaving her bow and the quiver of arrows leaning against the passageway. Not the smooth gait that he was accustomed to seeing, but she still held her head high, and her shoulders were thrown back, so she might not be in much pain. Eli rolled his eyes. Scrap that, he thought. Short of being knocked out, Kate would never yield, and had too much of the Bishop in her to allow herself to be vulnerable to _anyone_.

After a short silence, Eli heard the click of the door as she locked it shut, and the white noise of water as it hit against the tiles of the bathroom walls, smelt the sharp peppermint of his body wash in the air.

Smooth, Eli, real smooth.

Frustrated, he pressed his forehead against the wall. The first time in years that he saw Kate, and he defaulted to Neanderthal. The bathroom is that way. Way to go, slim.

By the time Kate came out, she changed into an oversized University of Chicago sweatshirt of his. This was teamed with her purple leggings, and those were his socks pooled around her ankles, as she padded towards the small table and sat in one of the canvas backed chairs. Kate sat down to the meal he prepared for the both of them, placing the pieces of her stave beside her spoon. Eli did not say a word. As long as she didn't kvetch about soup from a can and open grilled cheese sandwiches, he had no issue with her leaving her staves on the table.

"I hope it's okay. Like, you don't have gluten allergies or anything."

"It's wonderful," Kate did that lady of the manor voice he knew very well. She might have been sincere, or just very, very polite. With Kate Bishop, there were some things you didn't know unless she wanted you to know. Eli admired and resented that trait in equal breaths some time ago.

Her appetite put paid to the polite bit, though, as she devoured the grilled cheese sandwiches. When she eyed his, he lifted his plate, allowing her to snatch his own.

While she ate, Eli took the opportunity to just look at her. Kate, being practical as ever, had rolled the sleeves of the too big shirt to her elbows. No faux gym work, here. Her forearms were rock solid muscle, her knuckles seemed to be have been scraped recently in some scuffle or the other. Her hair still damp from the shower, spotted the grey sweatshirt with water drops, and she had it pulled back from her face. Her eye had the makings of a nasty bruise. Without a word, Eli got up, went to the freezer, took out a bag of frozen peas and handed it to her.

Their fingers brushed, and it was all Eli could do not to drop the bag.

Kate took the bag, wordlessly held it against her eye, and kept it there until he sat down. She dropped the bag of peas on the table, and resumed eating.

The silence between them bordered on sulky, with a fair bit of electricity zinging about in the mix. Eli sat down again, and folded his arms across his chest. Yes, it was rude. Yes, his grandma would have skewered him with a look at his insolence. Kate, damn her, took his brooding with a fair amount of style.

"Here's the thing," she said between bites of her sandwiches and sips of her soup. "You're being drafted."

"I don't do that any more."

"Nonsense." Kate waved his answer away, before licking a bit of soup from her thumb. Apart from the odd scrape of her knuckles, Kate's hands were still graceful. Long fingers, tipped by nails short enough to be practical, but with enough length to hint at her vanity. Her nails were unpolished, her fingers unhampered by any jewellery. Eli scanned her fourth finger for a wedding band, even the faint trace of one. Any sign to say _stay away_ that he could take to heart. "I checked your computer, you still trawl the main superhero boards. Although, _can can_? Just eww, Eli. _Eww_. They like, so live under the bridge of the internet."

"Don't tell me, you're a hacker now?" Eli bristled. His computer had been password protected.

"Rudimentary bits from WCA."

"WCA?"

"World Counter-terrorism Agency. Got drafted soon as I hit nineteen, did two years. Still doing time with them, although not right now."

Clint Barton and Bobbi Morse headed that team for a while, Eli knew. Clint Barton, man. He knew Kate had _thing_ for that guy. If his wife hadn't come back from wherever, Eli wondered if Kate and Clint would have hooked up. He never dared to ask, because well, as Kate said way back then, when they skirted around the subject, _You're not the boss of me. Or my vagina_ and on that, he had to agree.

"Are they still together?" Eli wanted to kick himself for asking, because no matter how casual the question sounded, it still had shades of _possessive_, especially when he had no right to be, not after five years apart.

"Yeah," Kate grinned, and it was bright and sincere. The first bit of warmth she showed towards him in the past hour they had seen each other, and it shouldn't have stirred him as it did. "They're crazy about each other, and just _crazy_," she broke off with a smoky laugh that still managed to twist Eli's gut. "It's nice to see."

"That's- _great_." Eli coughed weakly. He knew that Kate admired them both, and she was a part of that world, while he had turned his back on it.

"Yeah, well. Here's the thing, we've gotten wind of something going down-"

"No, just no." Eli held up his hands in a futile attempt to stop the line of conversation. "You don't know if my apartment's being bugged. Or if I've become a mole. Or have a wife or kids in the other room. Kate, you can't just come up in here and proceed to just lay it out like that -"

"We've combed your apartment, you're fine. You're still single, and your votes are trended towards your demographic. It's just that I ran into some guys, earlier on in the evening. I ducked, breaking their tail, and made my way here. They -"

"Wait, you ran into some guys?" Eli cocked his head. "Kate, hold on. You don't know if they might be trailing you? And hold up, you _combed_ my apartment?"

"If they were, I'd get a heads up and-" Kate placed a finger to her lips as a sign for silence, before tapping her ear twice. Eli raised his eyebrows as her features moved from amusement to concern.

 

"I see." Kate said. "We'll be there." Two taps to the ear, and Kate shifted her gaze to Eli, and he knew what she was going to say before she did.

"Grab some things, pack light. We have to get out of here."

oOo

 

As much as Eli bristled at the idea of uprooting, muscle memory took over, and deference to team mates and strategy had greater precedence than wasting time by being difficult. He yanked on his boots, heavy duty things that could tromp over hot coals, or frigid ice states, but supple enough to keep his feet comfortable when scrambling and urban running. He may have left all that superhero bits that he left behind, but he kept these damned boots. By the flicker in Kate's eyes, he knew that she noticed them too. He grabbed his passport, wallet, two pairs of socks, underwear, a secret stash of cash, and stuffed all of that along with his iBook in his bag, and he was ready to go.

"I need a jacket, Eli."

Eli reached into his closet, and threw one over his shoulder in her direction, before closing the door.

Quickly shutting off the lights, they slipped towards the window. Eli unlatched it, making his way to the fire escape.

"What is – going on?"

They tripped down the rickety stairs of the fire escape. Kate didn't say a word, and Eli grunted, shifting his back pack. They finally got out on the street, and found themselves in the alley, along with the huge dumpsters, the air sweet with rancid refuse. With the way how the city had been built, the passages in the alleys formed tunnels for the wind blowing off Lake Michigan. In the shadows of the alleys, there was minimal light here, and Eli half wished that he had his shield, because Kate was thoroughly armed, from her arrows, to her staves and a knife strapped to her thigh. He tried to catch her eye, but her shades were on her face, making her seem remote. Nothing like the woman who scarfed down sandwiches and soup in his kitchen a few minutes ago -and he needed to forget about that.

Kate kept ahead of him, acting as scout. Even with her weapons, she moved quickly and stealthily along the alley, towards the main road. A gust of wind blew around them, and Eli held his tongue, as he came face to face with Tommy.

Tommy was still whipcord lean, but topped out to be a bit taller than Eli. His hair glowed silver in the dim light, and Eli would have opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn't in this particular game any more.

"HawkeyeEliIjustscopedtheplaceand -"

"Slow down, Speed."

"Scoped the place, and you guys got out on time. Get on the blueline, and we'll lose their trail then. You two can get across town by then, right? I'd carry you any time, Hawkeye," Tommy winked at her. "However, with Eli here, I don't know-"

"We can get across town on the metro. Take our bags. We'll be fine."

"Even with the civilian, here? He's been away for a while, and you'd be protecting both ..."

"I'm. Here." Eli ground out the words. "Nice to see that some things haven't changed, Tommy. You're still a pill."

"You're still Eli. I think I got the better deal."

Eli glowered. Tommy gave a quick, sharp salute before whizzing off, leaving Kate's hair and their clothes blowing in a gust of wind.

"Can you still fight?"

"What?"

"Tommy has a point. You've been a civilian for the past five years, Eli." Kate said, as they kept moving, joining the crowds and keeping to the throngs of weekday evening traffic. "You probably haven't been keeping yourself in shape."

"I haven't been super heroing, if that's what you mean. But I'm no slouch either. " Eli whipped out his metro pass, not surprised when Kate whipped out hers too. The gates blipped, the turnstile moved freely, allowing them through.

Eli noticed Kate was scanning the faces in the station as they made their way to the blue line. Eli threw some change in a busker's hat. A long haired blonde guy was singing _Jack and Diane_ as they tripped quickly through the crowd, Eli throwing some loose change in his direction. They were lucky, as the train came to the platform on time, and they surged into the compartment, along with the other passengers.

"Hmmm." Kate was still distracted, as they moved to stand. Despite Kate's weapons, no one on the train gave her a second look. With his dark brown jacket over the rest of her costume, just stopping at mid-thigh, she looked like a very attractive college girl who was into cosplay. Eli studied Kate, from his vantage point of being a head taller than her. Her eyelashes fluttered periodically behind the glasses on the bridge of her nose. She still smelt like Kate, of soap and clean sweat. Her body heat radiating beside him, their thighs barely touching as the train swayed and clacked on the tracks.

It was unfair, Eli thought, how - _easy_ it was to fall back into old ways again, and decided that for his sake, he couldn't.

"I almost kicked your ass back in my apartment." Never mind that she might have been wounded. Eli waited on her to point that fact out, disappointed when she didn't.

Kate turned and tilted her face to his, her eyes still hidden behind her shades, the reflective purple lenses catching the fluorescent lights above. He didn't need to see Kate's eyes to know the expression in them, though. The line between her brows gave enough of a hint, as well as the sharp, brisk tones in her voice.

"I needed to see if you still had it in you, Eli. Your reflexes are still intact, if a shade off, and you did everything right but your password."

"It wasn't Patriot, give me that, at least."

"No," Kate's lips curved into a faint smile. "It was Isaiah1937." At this, the light in her smile dimmed. "I'm sorry, Eli."

"Yeah," Eli turned away from her and looked out the window, seeing the landscape as their train whizzed by the backs of various buildings. "He was just another stupid old black dude in NYC. It happens all the time."

"Eli -"

"It happened five years ago, it's _done_. It's not important."

"It made you quit the team."

"I've quit the team before." Eli retorted sharply, and he still felt the hot slap of shame that burnt his cheeks. The Mutant Growth Hormone, just so that he could have been a superhero. Just so he could -

"But you came back then, after everything. Considering. Why not this time?"

The crash and rattle of the train saved Eli from answering that question. Kate jerked her chin up, clapped her hand against her thigh. Eli _almost_ wished he had his shield, only for him to hear the same thing she did - **EliandKatetoHQEliandKatetoHQEliandKate...**. A spark of blue light, which transformed into a whirl, and a circle of glowing energy.

"Uhh, Kate," Eli eyed the glowing doorway, and then looked at the people around them. No one seemed to care. People still listened to their ipods, read their papers, or whispered quickly to each other. Eli did a double take and, "Holy. When did Billy -"

"Ask him yourself." Kate quipped, staves in her hand as she stepped through the whirling portal. Eli tailed her, mentally kicking himself for just falling into line, just like that. However, Kate wouldn't have come to him if it hadn't been important, he knew. They had parted on bad terms, so-

"Ah, man." Eli breathed, his eyes widening as he saw where he was. A super sized poster of the old school, back in the day, classic kicks Avengers. Captain America with the shield, Iron Man, Thor and Wasp. But he wasn't in the Avenger's mansion, oh no. The sleek surroundings put paid to that. Bleached wooden furniture, comfortable chairs, with cushions the colour and the shape of m&amp;ms. This place was ... sweet. Each wall dedicated to something different. One wall had an LCD display showing the map of the world, and in close up, a map of the continental US, with a neon green square around the area of Chicago. The other wall, nothing but glass from floor to ceiling, with a view of the Hudson that rivalled Tony Stark's.

In the middle of all of this spanking new interior design, were the members of the team that he left behind. Tommy dragging his hand through his hair, rolling his eyes as he tried to ignore Billy. Billy still had the red cloak around his shoulders, and the staff of power in his hand, as he made motions to his brother. Sitting in one of those overstuffed chairs was Teddy, chatting amicably with Vis - Jonas. Cassie stood beside Jonas, her hand on his shoulder, laughing at whatever Teddy had to say. Suddenly, as if she had felt Kate's presence, Cassie jerked her head up, and turned in their direction.

"Kate, you're back!" Cassie beamed with delight. In spite of himself, and the irregularity of the situation, it made Eli warm see that certain things hadn't changed.

Cassie stopped in mid stride, her eyes widening with surprise and pleasure when she saw him. "Eli? Oh, _Eli_! Is that... you?"

"Cassie -" was all Eli managed to choke as she covered the span between them in three leaps, and jumped him. Although he braced himself for impact, he still staggered a couple steps back under her momentum- before swinging her into a spin. Cassie's giggles tickled the air around him, and for a second, Eli had to choke back the lump in his throat. After his mom had remarried and relocated to Scottsdale with his other siblings, she had left him behind with his grandparents, and in her own way, Cassie became the replacement younger sibling.

"Eli!" Cassie squealed as he put her down and held her away at arm's length. She was tall – three inches taller than Kate at least. Still willowy, with sun spun hair and bright blue eyes. Her style, what he could see of it, hadn't changed, with a deep pink hoodie over a white, snug top and faded jeans.

"Cassie." Eli lightly punched her shoulder. "You've grown up." She had. Not that Eli would ever think of Cassie in _that_ way, because just... _no_.

"Eli," Cassie linked her arm with his and laid her head on his shoulder, the gestures so affectionate and easily done, Eli couldn't shy away, and he allowed himself to be dragged towards the rest of the group. "It's good seeing you again."

"You too, Cass." And he meant it.

"Hey, sorrytointerup-" Tommy suddenly stuck his head between them.

"Tommy," Cassie muttered with the resigned tones of an annoyed sibling. "Do you mind?"

"Nah," Tommy threw his arm around their shoulders. "I just wanted to know what Eli thought about being back, and all that _Seven_ stuff with the other heroes. Heavy stuff, eh, bro?"

"You may be someone's brother, but you aren't mine, Speed." Eli said, without heat. "I -" and did a double take.

"Come again?"

"That's enough, Tommy." Kate stepped forward, and Cassie stepped away, to greet Kate, taking her warmth from Eli's side. He felt bereft.

"Dinner, and we'll talk after, not before."

"Yes ma'am." Tommy winked, oblivious to Kate's stony glower.

**Chapter Three**

 

Dinner took place in another room. Eli half expected it to be a formal affair, given its formal décor, but glad to see that the dinner didn't live up to his fear. Instead of fully loaded pizza with all the toppings, with the odd breadstick as a change of texture, the spread included, but not limited to- chicken, vegetarian meals and salads and juices. A round table supported all this bounty, covered with something that looked like an oversized crochet doily. Teddy bounded ahead, still good natured and lumbering as an overgrown puppy. Jonas threw his arm around Cassie's shoulders, as he leaned forward and whispered something in her ear that made her sputter with laughter.

Eli took his time, admiring the room. One wall was totally obscured by a book shelf, which made him want to shove good manners aside and see what books hid there, and whether they were as old as he thought them to be. Some so old, but so beautifully preserved, their pages might not have been cut as yet.

Before he could even thinking of sneaking away however, Billy appeared beside him. Not in his garb as Wiccan, with scarlet ragged cloak, and silver headband, but in jeans and a T-shirt. The national uniform of Superheroes on down time. Eli felt distinctly overdressed in his button down, and flat front khakis. His excuse, he consoled himself, was that he had been coming home from work before Hurricane Kate – and his eyes found her at the end of the room, arms folded under her breasts, her eyes on Teddy, alive and warm with amusement at whatever tale he was regaling her with, her lips curving with that smirk he knew well.

Kate had always been attractive, he knew, but damn, she was _stunning_ now. Back in the day, she walked around, acting as if she were six feet tall, her bravado matching her talents, but now, it was all quiet confidence. Her lips curved in that spinx smile, the shape of her body hinted at in her oversized top, and snug, faded jeans. The only hint to her vanity might have been the dark purple toe nails, which hinted at a girlish whimsy Kate tended to keep under wraps when they had just started out.

"Eli."

"Billy. It's been a while."

"You're the one who left," Billy answered, hands in his pockets.

No answer to that but, "Yeah. I had my reasons."

"I understand," Billy gave a curt nod. "I mean, it hurt us when you left -again – but I hope you'll stick around this time."

"I-" Eli suddenly felt the need to explain, apologise or both. When Iron Lad came back from the future to gather a new Avengers team, he, Billy and Teddy were the first, and the original YA. In retrospect, leaving as he did, might have been a dick move. Not for the first time since he had been back here, Eli felt the tinge of shame.

"After dinner," Billy clapped a hand on Eli's shoulder, giving Eli a friendly smile. "We can talk then. I think Kate's getting impatient now."

oOo

 

Of all the conversations post meal, Eli never expected this. Instead of dessert, he had a dossier in his hand, and he took his time flipping through it, pausing on the photos. They were dossiers of meta humans, and he read the summaries of each death, getting more and more flummoxed at each page. His former team mates were close enough for Eli to sense their presence, but they stayed out of his way in order to give him some privacy, even though Eli knew that they probably studied this folder by heart.

After flipping through it, he found the front page, and read the summary of the contents within the folder.

"Moonstar. Prodigy. Santo. Monet St. Claire. Maggot. Silhouette. Miro. Noriko. Victor Mancha." Eli recited their names as he flipped through the photographs yet again. He had an idea what was going on, but he asked the question anyway.

"What's this gotta do with me?"

"Eli-"

"Answer me, Kate."

"We think that their deaths are connected," Teddy offered, cutting across Kate.

They were in the room that Eli had been teleported to earlier. The screens on the north facing wall had the images of the superheroes, but Kate had given him hard copies. As a trained librarian, as much as he appreciated information in all its forms, there was something about hardcopy that made it more 'real' some how.

"There's a 97.6 percent chance that all their deaths are connected," Jonas said, steepling his fingers against his lips. The Young Avengers were all in various positions of standing and sitting around the round table, with maps and pictures scattered in the middle. In front of each member laid a tablet and a stylus for writing and immediately uploading things into the data base. Eli wondered if he could indulge his inner luddite, and ask for pen and pad instead.

"Right," Eli rested a hip on the table's surface, his arms folded across his chest. "How so?"

"The dates of the murders span five years," Kate jabbed her finger in the direction of the grid of images on the screen.

"Have the killings been ritualistic?"

"That's on a need to know basis," Kate wagged her finger. "You don't need to know. You just need to know that this has been happening."

"If this has been going on for over five years," Eli narrowed his eyes at Kate. "Why hasn't the alarm been raised and -" at Kate's silence he drew himself up short.

"They don't fit the description of 'hero'," he answered his own question, astonished that he could still have feelings of anger and disappointment towards his country. Again.

"The official excuse is that it didn't help that they hadn't signed up to the SHRA. They had no records -"

"Bullshit, Cassie. Dani Moonstar was a member of the X-men. One of Professor Xavier's students, and you can't tell me?"

At this, Kate had the grace to look embarrassed. "It took the WCA long enough to come around," she began.

"WCA?"

"Earlier this year, we got some intel about Forge being targeted, but by the time I badgered them to roust personnel and organise a trap, the trail grew cold."

Shit. A cold trail of sweat snaked down Eli's back, but he didn't indulge the fear, instead, drawing strength from his anger. "So," he bit out, "what's that got to do with me?"

"We have ..." Kate cleared her throat, leaned back in her chair, and Eli gave her his best level gaze, ignoring the fact that his heart might have given a painful lurch when her eyes settled on his face. "There's been rumblings, about other heroes being on the list."

"I stopped playing that game sometime ago, Kate, remember? But I am curious, which heroes, and how do you know?"

"Again, I can't tell you. I'm asking if you can stay on, and help -"

"Really, when no -one helped my grand dad?" Eli's temper flared. "Again, I repeat, what the _fuck_ has that got to do with me?"

"Christ, Eli, listen to me," Kate pushed herself up and out of her chair, slapped her palms against the table and hissed through her teeth. "This _shit_ is real, do you know what it would do to the fabric of the country if people found out that some shadowy _whatever_ was killing minority superheroes, and that we left them to it for the past five years? Eli-"

"Unfortunately for you and this damned country," Eli snapped, as he tried to hold on to the fraying ends of his temper, surprised that the wound was still raw. "I. Don't. Care."

He turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, leaving Kate and the rest of his former team behind.

 

oOo

 

Back in Chicago, when Eli and Kate were hot footing it from his apartment, he told her that although he wasn't a superhero any more, he still kept his hand in. That was no lie. Eli cat leaped from the wall of one building to the next, pulling himself up by his arms, trying to remember New York by sense memory. The air was different here, Chicago smelt more like water and earth than New York did. Chicago more urban sprawl than New York's comparative cheek and jowl, the buildings seemingly smushed, one into the other. Eli stopped on one of the roofs, catching his breath. He stood there, arms on hips, wondering how the hell he allowed himself to come back here.

Never in a million years, did he think that he'd be coming back to NYC, and Eli found his thoughts bittersweet. Brooklyn Bridge just as he remembered, its outline framed by the lights. If he squinted a bit more, Lady Liberty. New York, home of Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Luke Cage, Captain America and - the Young Avengers. _Why the hell?_ Eli thought. _I shouldn't be here_.

"I'm impressed. You actually got better at that whole leaping tall buildings in a single jump thing."

"Kate."

Tonight, in the shadows, Kate was in costume . Eli had not noticed it back in Chicago, but in this new incarnation of her suit, Kate's shoulders and midriff were covered. The costume was still purple and snug, and pretty badass.

From this height, the noise of the city – shouts of crowds, the blare of sirens, and just general city noises were just background. At this height, light diffused into shadows, and Eli rolled his shoulders, half way wishing that he had worn more suitable clothing, because he already had a rip at the knee of his work slacks.

"Did you mean what you said back there?"

"Yeah. I do. My gramps died because -" Eli bit the inside of his jaw to keep his composure. "Because he couldn't, didn't avoid the blast, and saved that bus of school children from the villain of the day, and -"

"He died a hero."

"But wasn't even treated like one. He was just some old black bum from the Bronx. Someone who no one cared about, not even after everything. Why should I come back and do this, serving a country that hates its own kind – and that's not limited to mutants?"

Kate took a couple steps towards him, the gravel of the roof crunching under her soles. Her fingers played along the string of her bow.

"Just because. This is what you do. What you almost killed yourself with the Mutant Growth Hormone to do, because you were so desperate to be a hero."

"Damn, girl." Eli glared at her. "You need to say what you really mean."

"It was stupid and beneath you," Kate snapped. "But you – we got over it. I just can't understand why you couldn't -"

Eli held up his hand, for silence. The hairs at the back of his neck stood up. They were not alone. "Shut up."

"I beg-"

Acting on instinct, Eli closed the gap between them, dragging Kate down to the surface of the roof, his hand behind her head, trying to shield her from the sharp bang that pierced the night. The air rapidly filled with smoke that stung his eyes, and irritated his throat.

"What in the-?" Eli scrambled to his feet, a few seconds later than Kate did. He needed a weapon. Anything would do, and scrambling, he saw the faint outline of something. Eli dropped his foot at an angle, causing the object to jump and he caught it in his hand. A trash can cover, great. For the first time in forever, he really missed his shield.

"You have to cover my back, Eli." Kate notched an arrow into the string of her bow, aimed upward and fired.

The pop of light cut through the thick smoke, enough of them to see that they were surrounded by various figures in uniform.

As far as he could see, the six figures just appeared out of thin air. There was no way for them to call Billy and ask him to form a portal to get them back home – not just yet. It wouldn't do to overwhelm HQ with extra passengers.

A blink, the smoke cleared, and the figures advanced. Eli didn't want to throw his trash can cover, because that was the only shield he had. He wouldn't abandon Kate. Once here, he had to watch her back.

"Do you know who these people are?"

"Not now, Eli." he heard Kate grunt, heard the 'thunk' as the point and insert of an arrow buried itself into something solid.

"Were these the one – hey, hands off!" Eli threw all his weight on one foot, sidestepped before using the blunt edge of the trash can against his attacker's neck, before grabbing him and throwing him to one side.

_Elijah Bradley_

_Yess-_

"Now that is creepy." Eli launched himself at another figure, planting a solid kick in its face. They didn't make a noise, and more seemed to keep coming. They couldn't fight at this rate. Soon, they might go under, bested by sheer numbers.

As if Kate read his mind, she shouted, "We have to get out of here."

"And bring these guys back with us?"

"We'll just have to make a break for it, get distance and jump via portal. Can you keep up?"

_Oh no, she didn't just ask that, did she?_ "If I can't, you'll just have to leave me behind."

Kate smirked. "Not yet. You only just came back. So follow me. Billy, incoming!"

They started running towards the edge of the roof before Kate stopped, in mid stride, legs apart, her arrow at the level of her eye, facing the horde.

"You go before me, Eli. Now run!"

"Not without you," Eli drew his hand, over his body, aiming with the trash-can cover like he would a Frisbee. He calculated the wind speed and angle, before hurling the can after a section of the figures' legs, a knot of them collapsing like bowling pins after a strike. Kate launched her arrow, the shaft going through two of the figures, before it exploded, catching the others nearby in flames.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome."

"You think?"

"Let's go. There's no place like home!" Kate made a running start as if she were going to jump from one roof to the other. Eli hot on her heels. There was no hesitation as they jumped off the edge of the building, Eli tamped down on the urge to yell, as a bright blue circle opened up in mid air.

**IwantKateandElihere,IwantKateandElihereI-**

One the other side, they rolled out their landings onto the carpeted floor of the study. Eli rolled on to his back and closed his eyes a minute before opening them. Only to find a purple clad hand in front of his face.

"Need a hand?"

"Sure," Eli said, and whether out of mischief, or spite, he never knew, but he yanked Kate's hand, and she tumbled beside him.

Not to be outdone, Kate's other hand snaked out, she grabbed his shoulder, and one roll, two, Eli was on his back again, with Kate on top of him, her thighs on either side of his stomach, her palm splayed against his chest, their faces inches away from each other. He could almost smell the sweet chillies on her breath, from the fragrant rice dish they had for dinner earlier in the evening.

"Don't think I forgot that crack back there in Chicago, about you almost kicking my ass."

Eli wanted to laugh, but found his breath stuck half way through his chest and his throat. Kate on top of him, all muscle and awareness, and – hello.

To further add to the boost of his libido, Kate still had her tinted goggles on. There was a smear of dust on her cheek, a nick on her chin that had started to bleed, but showing signs of already clotting.

Unable to help himself, he brushed his fingers along her jawline, as if satisfying himself that she was okay. For a moment, he was self conscious about the callouses along his hands, a result from all the urban running he did, and he tried to be gentle.

Kate's hair fell around their faces like a curtain, her face close enough for him to see the expression in her eyes, her mouth opening a fraction. Eli laid his palm flush against her cheek, and she didn't move.

"Eli," Kate said, and leaned her face closer to his. Eli moved his other hand along her upper arm, the leather smooth to the point of being almost rubbery under his fingertips. His movement was not enough to spook her, and if Kate wanted to, she would slip out of his hold anyway.

"The only reason I went to ONTD_capes and _Can can_ was for news of you," he admitted, not caring if he sounded seriously uncool at this point. He'd headdesk later, but for now...

"I don't operate like that. I'm pretty much-"

"You don't smell like lilacs any more."

"It's not good practice in the field." Kate's gaze still had the ability to pierce him, it seemed. "I – you don't wear your earring any more."

"I work in a library. Besides, I-"

Closer now, enough to see a faint scar near her eyebrow. It was unfair, how he could have kept his hand and nerves steady for those superhero acrobatics, never blinking an eye when it came to jumping off a building, but being this close to Kate, his nerves were shot. His fingers trembled as they nudged her goggles from her eyes into her hair, creating an impromptu headband, only for them to fall off, bounce off his chest and land on the ground beside him. Suddenly, he was seventeen again, all clumsy and stumbling over his feet to get to her and -

Eli shifted his weight, his fingers tangled in her hair as he drew her closer and -

The gust of wind blew by them, blowing hanks of her hair across their faces. Kate's eyes widened, then narrowed, as if she had suddenly come back into herself.

Kate used her hand as leverage to push herself off his chest and got to her feet. Eli rousted himself into a seated position as he saw Tommy at the door, calling to the rest of the team.

"Eli and Kate are here, in the _study_, Billy. Next time, when you say you want them home, you mind giving the exact room? Even though, they might have needed some pri-"

"Can it, Tommy."

"Still tripping over Kate, Eli." Tommy's voice at his ear, because Tommy was right beside him. "Nice to see some things haven't changed."

"Get out of my face, Tommy."

Kate wasn't having it, however. Now coolly composed as if they almost hadn't – and Eli pushed that thought to one side, because he just realised something.

"Kate, those things up there. They knew my name."

Kate shrugged the strap of the arrow quiver from her shoulder. "Yes, its vexing."

"But what are they?"

"Are you in?"

"What?"

"You have two choices. Either we dispatch you to Chicago with security, and you keep your head down until this blows over. Or, you stay here and fight, wear the uniform again."

Feeling rankled, either from nerves or frustrated lust, Eli almost snarled his agreement to the terms.

"Until this gets solved. After that, I have the option to walk, agreed?"

Kate's eyes were hard, but Eli folded his arms, and stood his ground. Kate never liked being bested, but she nodded.

"Agreed. WCA will make arrangements for you to have unpaid leave from your job starting immediately. Your apartment will be given up, because you're coming back to NYC."

Eli winced. "That's cold. The apartment's rent controlled. I'd never get that again."

"If you're really going to to walk after this, Eli, I'm sure we can find an arrangement that suits us both."

"Deal."

"Now, that that's settled, we'll talk tomorrow."

"Kate-" Eli made to reach for her, but anticipating his reach, she sidestepped, picked up her quiver of arrows and marched to the exit.

"Tomorrow," she said in that voice which brooked no opposition.

 

** Chapter Four**

 

Tomorrow edged into today, and Eli rolled over in his bed, half awake, moving his hand in wide circles as he searched to switch off the alarm. The theme song for _Spiderman_ the old school cartoon made his phone rattle and hum: _Spiderman, Spiderman,Does whatever a spider can/ Spins a web, any size/ Catches thieves just like flies / Look out-_ and Eli pressed his thumb against the screen of the phone to stop the pain.

Fully awake now – because after being with the meta human community fighting against all and sundry, the ability to sleep lightly had been hard wired into his consciousness- Eli sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes. For a brief second, he might have been back at his apartment in Chicago – considering that the bed was the same, as well as the picture of his grandparents on the wall by the window. His furniture – and it was his furniture here- from the lumpy sofa where he sat in the evenings, to his grandma's vase (the only thing he had of her) on the window sill, with bright buds of flowers sprouting from its mouth.

The only thing new, which caught him off guard was a photo of him in his mortar and gown from Chicago U. He had been posing with a few members of his graduating class, but the picture was a close up of him, smiling and holding up the parchment of his degree.

What in the-? Ha, that was a mystery for another time.

The profile of New York outside his window, made him realise that he wasn't in Chicago anymore. As a native New Yorker, he'd know the city anywhere - and this room was so big, it made his apartment back in Chicago look like a hovel.

Finding no reason to stay under the sheets, Eli slid out of bed, clad in nothing but boxers and socks. Walking across the room, he drew the closet doors open, not surprised to find his clothing there, his hand falling away when it touched on a familiar costume. The blue and white. Eli pushed aside the rest of his clothing on the rail, only to see the kite shield with the familiar design of stars and stripes hanging up in the closest. A pride of place there, its highly polished surface winking in the light that bounced off it.

For the umpteenth time between sleeping and waking, he thought about Kate.

_Kate strolled into the room that Captain America and Iron Man locked them in. Her eyes were dark, and dancing with mischief behind Mockingbird's old mask, although trouble was out there. "You better start being **nice** to me, Patriot … or I'm not going to give you your **present**."_

Okay, this nosy, ballsy girl from the Upper East side, in a purple bridesmaid's dress and Mockingbird's old black and white mask. She'd been amused by their antics _all_ evening, mouthy to the point of obnoxious and well, this superheroing business was harder than it looked, and - "Cap, your shield."

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Eli brushed his fingers against the shield, remembered the last time he handed it back. After everything had gone down, and they had come back from his grandfather's second funeral to their headquarters. He had been in a suit, because wearing the costume didn't seem appropriate.

"I'm sorry, Eli." Cassie hugged him. A quick jerk of affection, before stepping back, leaving the scent of vanilla and strawberry gum behind. Teddy and Billy patted him on the shoulder, but Eli didn't feel their touches. He pressed his hands against the surface of the table, looked at his own reflection on the polished surface, before lifting his head, once he was sure that his eyes wouldn't tear up. Tommy's mouth moved, and it was as if someone turned the volume down and off.

_I'm leaving_.

He must have said it aloud, because Cassie's eyes widened as if she had been slapped right across the face. "Eli, you don't-"

Kate stepped in front of Cassie, as if defending her from any blows that Eli might have given.

"I do," Eli looked at Kate, his hand outstretched, as he begged her to understand his position. "I can't stay here any more. I can't be Patriot, or handle the shield."

"Eli-" that was Billy. So gentle, he'd never hurt a fly – unless he had to.

"Kate," Eli tried to rummage around, to find the words, because out of all the Young Avengers, her opinion mattered the most to him, and Eli never questioned why, it just did. Unlike Cassie though, Kate hid a good portion of her heart behind snark, brusqueness, or arrogance. Sometimes, all three.

"You can't leave, not now," Kate said. In deference to his grandmother's feelings, she eschewed her costume, for a simple black dress, with a white collar. She had her hair brushed back from her face, and done in a simple braid. He missed the mussed quality of it, but appreciated the fact that she did it just for the occasion. Her lips were done in a darker tint of lipstick than she normally wore, so she looked slightly more mature, but not older.

"I-"

"I know what it's like when a parent dies, Eli. Before I joined YA, my mom died, and -"

"Had good deeds to her name all over. She's probably had half of the woman's shelters in NYC named after her. All my granddad has is the fact that some people protested at his funeral saying that he couldn't be the first Captain America."

"That's not our fault."

"No, it isn't." Eli's eyes never left hers. "But -"

"You blame us."

"I don't." That was true. "But I can't stay." Ditto to that reason, too.

"Eli," Cassie shrank, slipped around in front of Kate and grew to her usual size. "You can't -"

"Cassie -"

"Cassie, honey, no. Don't ask him. Not again." Kate drew Cassie close in a protective embrace. In angry tones she hissed, "If you turn and go, that's it. Don't come back. You can't have it both ways, Eli. Coming and going when and as you please. It's a commitment, and if you don't have the inclination to stick with it, go, and consider your involvement with YA _done_."

"You don't understand, do you?" Eli snapped. "It's easy for you to mourn over your mom, knowing that she'll be canonized, St Eleanor of the Upper East Side. Cassie's dad is considered a hero even though he started off shady, but got a chance to redeem himself. The only thing my gramps was guilty of, was being someone that this country hated and feared and saw as less than human. It's not the same, Kate. All I'm saying is -"

"You need to go," Kate snapped. "Fine, just go."

Eli took a step back, raised his hands in a weary gesture of surrender. By the set of Kate's jaw, and her glare, he knew that she was in no mood to forgive.

The rest of the team were there: Billy in a suit, Teddy's gold earrings replaced by black studs, and simple pullover with dark grey slacks. Tommy was in the midst of tugging at his tie, his features neutral. Eli knew that Tommy had always had the attitude that no one told him anything, due to him being a late addition to the team and all, but seeing the flash of something across his face at the emotional drama playing out before him, probably that might have been for the best. The quiet of the room was tense, and even though Eli knew everyone was there, the world shrank down to nothing but Kate and himself, with the crown of Cassie's head in the lower right hand corner.

"Kate-"

"No," Kate's voice hitched. "No excuses this time, Eli. Just go."

"Yeah, I think I'ma do that," Eli brought his palm face down. "I'm outta here."

He walked towards the door, ready to step outside, only for Kate's voice to stop him in his tracks. "Will you be taking your uniform?"

Kate still had Cassie in her arms, one hand soothing the curls in her hair, the other hand rubbing her back. How she could soothe Cassie to a state of calm, and yet be ice cold enough that the room felt like the chilled aisle in a supermarket was beyond him. Add it to another hoodoo that women did do.

"No, keep it." Eli gripped his hand on the door handle, taking care not to exert his full strength, lest it pop off in his hand. He had destroyed enough today, already. "Find another hero who doesn't have the baggage I have."

Kate, being Kate, put the boot in. "I'm sure it won't be hard."

Eli rubbed his face, feeling the grit behind his eyelids. He stood in front of the closet, eyed the shield and the uniform, and did not move for a long, long, long time.

oOo

 

"Seriously, Tommy, you need to practice fighting without your powers. One day, you might not have them any more, and you'll have to go along like the rest of us."

"Relax, I hear you."

"You sound _so_ convincing. Besides, people can still be great without powers. Take a look at Kate."

"I've looked at her, thank you very much."

Eli stopped short at the door to what might have been the danger room. He hung back, shield in hand, but deferred to sweat pants and a tanktop for the first day of training.

"I forget – unff!- What a sexist pig you can be, at times." Cassie tsked, but sounded like a sister resigned to the fate of having a snotty older brother at hand. "Why can't you be more like Billy?"

"No, thanks. Tag, you're it, sunshine."

Eli flattened himself against the wall, and with great stealth, leaned over enough so he could see them fighting. The door was left ajar, enough for him to see the floor composed of dark blue padded mats, the ones found in stadiums for gymnasts to do tumbles on, without hurting their knees or muscles from the shock of landing. The ceiling was high up, with the windows letting in the city and its light through their panes of glass.

Tommy and Cassie were in costume. Tommy's a muted silver green, Cassie still in her colours of red and black.

"Ugh," Cassie grabbed Tommy's hand, as he slowed down his speed against her, and using a neat jui jitsu move, flipped him onto his back. Eli winced, remembering when Cassie successfully executed that move on him. "I always wondered why Kate ever dated you in the first pace."

"Hey!" Tommy laughed, still lying on his back, his voice rich with amusement. "I'm a fun guy. She came around in the end."

"Then called it off. Happy endings, all around."

"You're cruel, Cassie."

_Whoa, stop the presses. Kate and Tommy dated?_ Eli decided right there, he really didn't need to know more than that. The decision made, he pushed himself from the wall, and walked in.

 

"Hey, Eli," Cassie greeted with a smile. "Tommy is cheating. Wanna tag team and beat him up?"

Eli smiled back. Trust Cassie to make everything so _easy_. "That might be the best thing I've heard all day."

"Ha!" Tommy gave a shout of laughter. "You'll have to catch me, first."

They never did catch Tommy in the end, although the training session was not wasted, with them using the time to work out the team dynamics again. Who to go where, and not getting into each other's way.

After an hour of drills, Cassie was the first to defect. "I promised my mom I'd see her today, and Kate said it was okay. If there's any trouble though, call me, you guys. I mean it."

"Fine." Tommy peeled off the top half of his costume, holding the ends of the towel off his shoulders. "Go. We'll shine the Cassie signal if there's any trouble."

Cassie rolled her eyes, grabbed her gym bag and ran out of the door yelling, "Callllll meeee!!!"

Tommy chuckled to himself, as he rocked back on his heels. Now that she was gone, the atmosphere in the room wasn't so light, or welcoming, and Eli squelched a sigh. For the first time since he had been back, Eli found himself alone with Tommy.

They never really got along, and in idle moments Eli wondered if it might have been the fact that Tommy had being sprung from super juvie over his objections, or if he had been jealous over Tommy and Kate _sparking_ off each other from the get go. Tommy was as comfortable with his chemistry and feelings towards Kate as Eli had been swamped by his. As much as he hated to give Tommy credit for anything - he was right about Eli tripping up over Kate. But it was Kate, how could you _not_?

"- the deal?"

"Sorry, I didn't hear."

"With you and this? Are you staying, or will you be going back to Chicago?"

Eli hefted his shield, stared at its kite shape and the stars and stripes design. When he was seventeen, that's all he wanted to do, and now...

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing to me, directly," Tommy rubbed his hair with the towel, his hands a blur of motion. "But when you left, you did a number on Kate and Cassie."

The points of the stars were blurred, and Eli lifted his gaze to meet Tommy's. For a moment, he couldn't speak around the lump in his throat.

"You think I just – that I never thought what I was leaving behind?" _Or who?_

"Dunno, man. All I know is, you walked. You've done it before, my scepticism is warranted."

Nothing for that but, "Yeah." Tommy, with his impatience and a strange morality baffled Eli, and it wasn't as if he'd understand. If Tommy had been Billy, Eli might have told him – things. That for the first year, he would stare at Kate's name and number in his phone, his thumb hovering over the 'call' button, before he pressed the phone to turn itself off.

Or, that he bought birthday and Christmas cards and sat to write a note for Cassie, and instead of placing it in the mailbox, he left them in the drawer, telling himself that he left, and that he had no right thinking about the lives or the people that he left behind.

Tommy, damn him, wasn't finished, and Eli didn't have the strength to deck him, or tell him to stop.

"While you were getting your degree in Chicago, we had to stay and hold the fort. We heard rumblings, and two years ago, Kate decided to ask Billy to keep tabs on you."

"I didn't ask for that." Eli replied, stung, as he raised his gaze to Tommy's.

"No," Tommy agreed, his hair now dry and spiky from his ministrations. "But you know what Kate's like. Then the situation changed, and Kate yanked you out when the circle was closing."

"Wait, hold up." Eli raised his hand in the universal symbol for stop. This conversation was shifting underfoot, and he must have missed a paragraph or two. "What are you talking about? Why would Kate keep t-?"

Only to find himself speaking to the air, because Tommy was gone.

**Chapter Five**

 

Before Eli became a superhero, he worked part time at the New York Public Library. In addition to that, he had been a good student, and attended a decent magnet school. As a result, Eli didn't fear research, and he could crunch through tons of information. It might have been his other superpower.

Eli found himself in the YA's resource room, where he and Kate had their quarrel the other night. Eli held the information pad in his hand, going through the various protocols as the system recognised his password, and opened. Here be the information high way, abandon all hope, and concept of time.

Not that his iBook wasn't great, but at times it couldn't compare to this portable stylus that was connected to a flat screen monitor that rivalled the size of a movie screen in a small theatre. Eli flexed his fingers, before calling up google as the first port of information.

Without thinking, he typed in 'Kate Bishop',the screen exploded with hyper-links and summaries at the information therein. Kate had her own wikipedia page. It spoke highly of her accomplishments; articles about her being a cellist of some note, invited to play alongside the best. She had come into her shares at eighteen, and as a result, if the article in _People_ was to be believed, she had an agreement with her father to be more visible. As such she attended events like -the Crillon Ball international? Curiosity aroused, Eli clicked through. It was a 'Charity Gala' that one had to be invited to, attended the young, fashionable daughters of privilege from forty different countries. From children of Presidents, rock and roll stars, established names like Hearst and Vanderbilt, to the young upstart designers. A few pictures of Kate in an antique ivory floor length ball gown, her hair done up, her shoulders bare.

A few more clicks, and the Metropolitan Museum Costume Gala came up. Oh, that _so_ wasn't his thing, but Eli clicked through anyway, and stumbled on an online gossip column, if the pink homepage was anything to go by. He was going to click away, only for his eyes to snag on the names - Kate Bishop and Tommy Shepherd.

He shouldn't have, but Eli clicked through, only to stumble on the pictures of Kate and Tommy. Together. On the red carpet of the entrance of the Met Gala.

Whoa.

Eli might have been jealous. Probably. Kate and Tommy suited. He clad in a tuxedo, classic enough to be the foil for the drama of Kate and her dress, but Tommy stood out, with his silver hair and green eyed smirk. Beside him stood Kate, her hair up, her neck bare, and swinging from her ears, diamonds the size of lollipops. She wore a short swingy long sleeved dress, with a strange hem that looked like it had been caught in a paper shredder, barely rescued before it got past the thighs, and shoes with the heels high enough for her head to be at Tommy's shoulder. The dress looked as if it were made with plated rubber ribbons, and snug fitting, showing enough leg to tempt any monk into sin. Another photo, with her back turned to the camera, giving a smouldering stare from over her shoulder, her eyes hot and blue, with the graphite eyeshadow around them making them more so. Another shot and she was in Tommy's space, holding his hand. However, she wasn't being coy, leaning into his side, or with her head on his shoulder. She stood there, her her leg in front of her as if in fourth position, owning the moment and giving the camera that bored gaze, the one which said that she was better than the person on the other side of the lens.

The physical intimacy between Kate and Tommy was unmistakeable, though. His hand on the small of her back, that half smile Kate did when half amused and aroused, like the times she and Eli kissed - and nothing more. With Tommy, there had been something more, and Eli knew that he didn't have the right to be jealous. That their paths ended when he walked away, and he shouldn't be feeling like this. Not the irrational resentment clawing at his insides, because yeah, Kate despite everything else, insisted on being physically cautious, and it made sense and was right and -

The accompanying article seemed to be written by someone caught in the rapture of Kate and Tommy, and from the pictures about three feet high on the screen, he could see why. _ A great dress is exciting, but Alexander Wang? Is f_cking amazing. This dress isn't wearing Kate Bishop, oh no. She's showing those b_tches at the Met Gala how it is done, and with that attitude? Oh, la. Kate Bishop just might be a superhero after all. Jesus Christ, all I want to do is stare at these two all day. F_ck._

Yeah, Eli thought. Fuck.

oOo

 

The Young Avengers clubhouse – note to self, were they still 'Young Avengers'- was vast. Kate moved them from the abandoned husk of the former publishing house to the Upper East Side. It had only been two days since he had come back, he and Kate fighting against who knew what on the roofs of New York.

The elevator opened with a soft ping, and Eli stepped out, shield still in hand. According to the directions in the elevator, this was Billy's quarters.

It felt like Billy's quarters, just the spartan cleanness of it – the impression of wooden floors and light.

"Hey, Eli, come on in." Billy greeted. He wasn't in his superhero garb, just a grey marbled sweater and jeans. He hadn't changed much, his eyes warmer than his brother's – but Billy just was a _better_ person. Even after everything – Billy still was friendly towards Eli, and it meant more than words could say.

"Nice pad."

"Yeah," Billy agreed. "Kate figured that since we got some cachet as superheroes, the new HQ needed to reflect it. You know what Kate's like."

"Everyone keeps saying that," Eli murmured thoughtfully. "I don't think I know anymor- hey, where is Teddy? I thought that you two would have shared-" Eli paused at the cloud which passed over Billy's face, and he knew.

"Sorry." Eli gave Billy an awkward pat on his shoulder, wishing he was better at words. He never was, and all he could offer was a comforting squeeze.

"It happens," Billy pursed his lips. "We decided that we'd still be friends afterwards. It would be too... hard not to, since we're on the same team and all. Neither of us were willing to leave YA."

Eli shook his head. "I'll never live it down, will I?"

"Tommy's been after you, huh?" Billy gave Eli that frank gaze he knew pretty well. "I think after Siege-, and everything else- we thought the bonds were strong enough, that we'd have held, only for you to break away. Tommy was hurt and angry, I think we all were. Kate especially."

"Kate-" Eli opened his mouth to say something, and closed it again.

"Yeah, Kate. She was really cut up, and Tommy knew how to get her out of her funk."

_I'm sure he did_, Eli thought, seeing Kate in his mind's eye, last night when he touched her cheek, remembering her eyes and mouth. If Tommy hadn't been there...

They fell into companionable silence after that, and Eli found himself loath to break the mood, but he had to.

"Billy, about you keeping the tabs on me-"

"Yes?"

"What type of tabs are they?"

Billy raised his eyebrows at the sudden shift in conversation, but apart from that, didn't seem too fazed. "Cloaking and tracking."

"But they still were able to find me even though -"

"Yeah, that's the thing with magic. It's all signatures," Billy explained. "Like radio frequencies, you keep tuning in, twisting and turning the dial, until one one day, you might get a strong signal. They've been searching for you for a while. I can make the cloaking spell stronger, like throwing up static -"

"But they'll still break through eventually, right?"

At this, Billy had the grace to look embarrassed. "Yeah."

Eli rocked back on his heels, thought about it for a while and then said, "I want them off... with adjustments."

"But Kate-"

"I'll speak to Kate," Eli's tone was brusque, and Billy didn't deserve the attitude, so he softened his tone. "Thanks. Now, here's what I want you to do..."

oOo

 

It had been the first time in an age since Eli walked around New York City. After he left New York for to Chicago, he never looked back. But now, after doing the tourist stuff– Central Park, Yankee Stadium, Empire State, he stopped by a local sports outlet and got a New York Yankees baseball cap, as well as the local doughnut shop, it was home again. When night fell, he absorbed the lights, jostled along the side-walks, admiring the ladies who walked by, either alone or in groups. Hips swaying, or hands over their mouths, giggling.

He scanned the throngs of the crowd, taking time to circle in on himself, alert to being followed. No joy, so far. He inched away from the crowd, into the alley way, and scrambled up the fire escape, his arms and legs moving in sync. Soon, he found himself on the roof of an apartment building. One of those old fashioned flat slabbed roofs. Confident that he hadn't been sighted, Eli allowed himself to reflect.

He remembered when the Registration Act had passed, with the news playing across the marquees in Times Square. Despite the madness of it all, the Young Avengers had been out there, Kate and him teaming up most times. In the evenings, after he had completed his homework, they would meet, then perched on the roofs like Gargoyles, overseeing their city, waiting for... anything.

It had been a tense, unsettling time. Metahuman against metahuman and it had been strange- from Iron Man and Captain America united in their effort to lock the Young Avengers down, they were now squaring off at each other, and Eli shuddered. In a way, it was as if the gods on Mount Olympics were fighting, the spark of emotion and lighting raining down on the puny humans below. Okay, and that's how Eli _knew_ he had to lay off the Greek Literature for his AP class.

"Penny for your thoughts," Eli said, taking care to keep his voice low. Dusk had just fallen, and he had finished his AP English essay before excusing himself from the household for the rest of the night, and joining Kate on patrol. Kate stood away from him, her foot on a wall, her arrow on her knee. Her hair swirled around her face like shadow wings in the wind. She looked across in his direction, her eyes hidden by the tinted lenses.

"I'm _so_ not that cheap, Eli. It's Black Amex or nothing."

"Who ever thought the SHRA would pass? It's -"

"Disappointing, and vexing. It's a bad law."

"I -" Eli sighed.

"Spit it out, Eli."

I like you a lot, he wanted to say. Like with the upper case L. But there was no way that wouldn't have sounded stupid. So Eli said the second thing that came to mind. "Whatever happens with the SHRA, I'm still a Young Avenger."

Kate smirked. The awkward moment gone, they turned to the matter at hand.

The thought carried Eli through him dropping down to another alley, taking the subway, and a long delayed taxi ride, dropping him off at his temporary home. Kate's face and that day stayed with him as he ran up the stairs, punching in the password and let himself in. Only for the music to tug at his reverie and pull him into the present.

The piece slid smoothly from scale to scale, rising and falling like breath. No way was that a violin. It sounded less tinny, for one. Curious, Eli followed the path of the music, across an impressive checked floor and passing various Queen Anne chairs, muted gold wallpaper, towards the study, where the books were.

Right there in the middle, sat Kate, cello in between her knees, its endpin stuck in the carpet.

Kate held the bow in one hand, and her fingers pressed and released the strings against the fingerboard with the other. Her movements were fluid, graceful, with the undulating movement of her hand with the bow, simultaneously moving with the press of the strings and the change of pitch.

All concentration, no blissful closing of eyes and allowing herself to be lost in the stream of music, here. Just Kate, who took to the cello the way she took to everything else: eyes open, calculating and on this side of serious business, her teeth gnawing at her lower lip. She probably did that thing Billy tended to do when he was creating magic and thought his spell had gone wobbly around the edges when no -one else had noticed. It figured, he thought, not surprised by the emotions that flared in his gut like a torch exposed to extra oxygen on seeing her, because his attraction and feelings towards Kate hadn't dimmed, it just was.

Kate was wearing a dress, with her sleeves rolled up, to bracelet length and its full skirt adjusted to hold the cello between her legs. On her feet, she wore dark brown stout lace ups – with red laces, and purple socks peering out from the tops of her shoes. Apart from that, her legs were bare and pale, because they were covered up most of the time. Compared to her arms, which were several shades darker due to being regularly exposed to the elements.

Eli knew when Kate knew that she was not alone. Her expression didn't change outwardly, but her eyes might have become a bit warmer, or probably it might have been the trick of the lights.

Although it was dark outside, the music hinted at light. It did reflect the season of _autumn_, stoked the robustness of spirit that the weather called for; heavier bottom notes that spoke of earth and preparation for the slumber and darkness, which veered on this side of melancholy. Only for in the next note, a breakthrough of the odd, high, sweet intonations of brisk breezes and the brightness of fall. Underneath all that, in the spaces of the notes, the sob of breath through the f holes.

Too soon, the last note trembled and died with a sigh, leaving silence behind, a pure and ringing thing.

"Eli." Kate's voice almost a tad too loud in the silence left behind. She reached for a cloth from the case beside her and wiped the surface of the cello. Like a good crafts person, Kate took the time to put away her tools. Kate slid the endpin into the body of the cello, before getting on one knee, and gently placing it in its case, as if it were a sleepy toddler. With another cloth, she wiped her bow and its string, placed it in a case that seemed to be made from soft black cloth. That little task done, she snapped the lid of her case closed, and moved it into the corner of the library, and Eli realised this might have been where Kate practised.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

"No," Kate wiped her hands on the full skirt of her dress. "I just got in. Took today to see Susan. A lunch date I couldn't get out of."

Ah, Susan, her sister. "The one whose wedding we saved from those guys."

"The one who had to pay for repairs for the rose window, _and_ the scorched curtains of St Patrick's Cathedral, because the Young Avengers couldn't find their asses with both hands and a flash light. Considering."

"Pfft, semantics."

Kate linked her fingers in front of her, standing in the same spot, not moving as Eli advanced. "Keep telling yourself that, Eli."

"Yeah, I will." Eli stopped before her, stuck his hands in his pockets. He wasn't seventeen any more and could control the urge to grab her by the shoulders and kiss her. Although he wanted to. But he had to tell her what he'd done.

"I spoke to Billy today."

"Oh?"

"I told him to take off whatever you had him placed on me. The tracking, cloaking, whatever."

A line appeared between Kate's eyebrows as she frowned, and he heard the strain in her voice as she said, "You don't want to do that."

"I do. So, consider this a – what's that's fancy phrase you'd use – a _by your leave_, right?"

Eli pulled a hand out of his pocket, and gave a mock salute, only to see _something_ flicker in Kate's eyes. Eli found himself putting his hands on her shoulders, turning her face to his. He found it easy to resist any sort of attraction when he was swamped with concern. He still cared enough to worry, and that's something he'd tuck away for now, and focus on her.

"Eli," Kate shook her head as she placed her hands on top of his, the tips of her nails a slight nick on the back of his hand. "You can't."

"I can and I will. Not unless there's some big reveal that you're going to unleash on me right now? Like in those stupid _Star Wars_ movies, when Darth Vader tells Skywalker, 'Luke, I'm your father'?"

Kate gave a rusty laugh, and her eyes had a suspicious sheen, but Eli had never seen Kate cry and her voice was plenty strong enough as she answered, "No, I'm not your mother from an alternative universe or anything time travelling and weird like that, but there's something you should know, and why you _can't_ take the tracking off."

Well, he already knew one thing to be true, Eli thought as he placed his hand flush against Kate's cheek, his thumb stroking her cheekbone. That he still had feelings for her, as strong as when they were trapped under Asgard during the Siege, when the mechanics of his brain froze because Kate had _not_ been okay. Upper case L for like, _right_. He touched his forehead to hers, took a breath, and said, "Okay, tell me."

 

** Chapter Six**

 

Eli slipped out of bed, got his shield and stepped out on the balcony. He was still angry, but didn't know who he was more mad at: if it were Kate, for her micro managing, or himself for everything else.

He was leaving, again. But he had a reason this time; and if Billy took off the tracking like he said he did, as well as the block, then he would be found, and this game would end.

This time, Eli was in his suit. Surprise, surprise, he suspected that Kate got a new one made, because he had grown some, topped out just under six foot, instead of the five foot nine he'd held on to when he was seventeen. For a moment as he stared at the suit in the closet, he wanted to shred it, but sanity won out, and he slipped it on.

The idea was – since Billy had to remove everything from him- that Eli would be out there, like a signal flare in the night, if things went according to plan.

His shield on his back, Eli ran along the roof edge of the buildings. Getting to relearn New York through every jump, roll, and vault. Eli put himself through his paces, slowly at first, the fibres in his suit protecting him from the chill, allowing his muscles to be warm and the movements smooth.

He had to focus, he had to concentrate, couldn't be caught off guard. Kate - _shit_. Kate.

In his mind's eye he could not get away from the image of Kate, his hands on her shoulders, wondering why she was so troubled, only to get at a truth he wished he had known sooner.

"It's about your granddad, Eli."

A cold, hard lump settled at the bottom of Eli's stomach. " Moonstar-"

"Started five years ago, Eli, the same time as -" Isaiah Bradley had been killed.

"Its the Sons of America, Eli," Kate was still speaking, her voice low and urgent. "It's-"

"How long have you known?" Eli wanted to shake her, but slid his hands from her shoulders, and took two steps back. For the first time that they had been back under the same roof, Kate looked lost, and sad. It took all of Eli's strength to push those softer feelings to one side, and focus on the matter at hand.

"Kate -"

"A year after you enrolled at Chicago U," she sighed. "I had Wiccan put a tracer and a cloaking shield on you. It seems that they were using some sort of spells to find and subdue. After the high profile deaths of Dust and Dani Moonstar – we heard mumblings."

"And you didn't -" Eli cleared his throat. The five years he had been away, so much had changed. He got a degree, moved houses twice. "You didn't tell me."

"You'd already left Young Avengers," Kate shot back. "Made your choice, packed up and decamped to Chicago, what was I supposed to do, crawl to you and _beg_?"

"No. You'd never have had to beg, Kate. I'd have done anything for you."

"Except stay." Kate cleared her throat, and swallowed. "You left the team after everything we went through. Your MGH habit, the Siege. After finding out the truth about Billy and Tommy. We were _family_, Eli. You just... left. Weren't we strong enough to get through your grandfather's death, too?"

"I -" Eli rubbed his face with his hands. "I couldn't stay, not then. Not after gramps , not after how they treated him in the papers. How no-one in the Superhero world said anything, apart from Cap and Bucky. How the press ignored Cage and The Falcon because well..." Eli shuddered a breath, and forced himself to be calm and focus on the matter to hand.

"But you knew about my grand dad. W- why didn't you tell me?"

"So you could find an excuse to be a martyr? So you could charging off, half cocked, all emotion and no plan? Or now, like some sort of... _honey trap_?" Kate threw her arms out, palms facing up. Speaking quickly, she explained, "Having you in Chicago was the lesser of the two evils. Doing your degree in _Library Science_ was the lesser of two evils. The only reason why you're here is the fact that they identified you, and Billy's magic wouldn't have been strong enough to protect you. We had to get you out of Chicago."

Nothing after that, save the low hum of the heating, the muted tick tock of the clock off in a hall somewhere, and after some minutes, Eli sorted through his feelings and found his voice.

"You're _unbelievable_," he spat. "Of all the paternalistic, egotistical, sanctimonious B.S. - you're almost as bad as Tony Stark."

"You're welcome."

"No, I'm gone."

Kate's glare could have frozen lava in its tracks, and they were back to what they were five years ago, in their HQ, after his grandfather's funeral. "That's what you do best," she gave a curt nod. "Don't let me stop you."

"I won't." Eli pushed past her, and towards the door. At the doorway, he paused, unable to resist one last look at Kate. Who still stood in the centre of the room, her hands linked in front of her. .

That's when Eli double timed it up the stairs to his room, gathered his uniform and shield, and left.

_Eli Bradley_.

Hitching his shield as a guard, Eli assumed the defensive stance, ready for anything. His blood pumping in his ears, surging through his veins, he was angry – and ready to go.

Not surprised by the wraiths who appeared before when he and Kate were together, solidifying and surrounding him now. Billy had taken off the shield. Good, he owed him one.

Six descended on him at once, their movements sudden, and smooth. A round house kick to one. Eli lifted his shield, blocking the move of another. Ducked and stepped out of the way of an axe kick, which would have been enough to break his collar bone if it had connected.

Anger made him cut through a dozen of them like a scythe through corn. The point of his shield aimed at a thigh, and he grinned at the crunch of bone. Roll, and a sprint to the wall, with three following him.

_Have to time it right_. Rolling the ball of his foot off the wall, Eli allowed his momentum to follow through, as he launched into a somersault, gaining height and hitting three of them with his body. He scrambled to his feet, not feeling the slightest bit winded. Eli gave himself over to his anger and resentment, for every wraith he saw his grandfather's body as the newspapers, youtube and the news cameras ran it at the time. The figures nothing but various blurs through his rage and tears.

Five minutes later, he'd flattened the first dozen, and wasn't surprised to see another dozen in the same uniforms. However, he did make a start of surprise when he found himself being addressed.

"Boy," one of them spoke to him, and tugged off her mask. In the muted light of the skyline, Eli only had impressions of their leader, with her hair red as fresh blood, a contrast against parchment pale skin, with freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks. When she spoke, her accent sounded more European than American. "You show yourself at last."

"I'd like to know your name," Eli snarled. "Before I beat you to the ground."

"Another mongrel meta human who has yet to learn his place. I won't soil my hands with you."

"I- ow!" Eli's hand went to his neck. At first he thought he had been stung by a bee, only to see the world in reverse chroma, as if he were looking at old fashioned negatives. A blur, before he dropped to his knees.

_I have to get out of here._  
The ground came up to meet him, and the last thing he saw before his vision faded to black was the rounded tips of deep scarlet boots.

_Damn, I'm in trouble. Ka -_

oOo

 

Eli woke up to find himself strapped to a hard surface. He tried flexing his muscles, but felt kitten weak. Above him, he saw rock, and concluded that he might have been in a cave, its walls arching into a ceiling that seemed to be as high as St Patrick's Cathedral.

Drawn on the walls were – sigils, he assumed. Eli moaned, his mouth felt as if it had plaster of paris in it, nothing but chalk and dust. He couldn't move, felt desperately weak, but he refused to freak out. That didn't help anything.

"You're awake, good."

Eli slid his eyes towards the red head he'd seen before - still dressed in her black and red get up, and over that, a ceremonial robe of some sort. He didn't say a word.

"Don't bother to yell for help, no one can hear you. Nor save you," she continued, and with a gloved hand, poked at Eli's upper arm. "Probably just as well. One less of the wrong kind."

"I don't know you," Eli rasped through a dry throat. "I – don't-" he felt himself fading, only to be roused by the shock of cold, salt water on his face. As it got into his nostrils and throat, he chocked on the water, and spat it out. His eyes and mucus membranes were burning, and despite the fact that he had the super soldier serum in his veins, it didn't make him immune to the sting. His body was one throbbing wound, and he was too out of it to be surprised by the fact that his exposed arms were scored with cuts. Deep enough to bleed freely, despite the efficient coagulating effects of his blood, but shallow enough for him to not bleed out on the table.

"But we know you, Eli." He swore that he heard laughter in her voice, and it was wrong that she had the soothing tones of a college advisor, instead of some crazy Annie Wilkes wanna be. "Third generation bastard. You've given us a merry chase for the past five years."

The magic that Wiccan cloaked him with, Eli knew, but kept his mouth shut. He felt her hands on his jaw, her breath on his face.

"What c-can I say?" He choked through the words. The salt water didn't help the rasp in his throat much. "I-I've been busy."

"No matter," that college advisor's voice again. He half expected her to tell him to drop the computers in his degree, and plump for Humanities instead. "What's done is done. You're the last of that breed. After we're done with you, you won't be doing that to anyone else, any more."

Yeowch, Eli swallowed, as he felt the knife slice through his costume on his upper thigh. Didn't need to see to know that he was bleeding. He wasn't feeling anything, though which might mean he was going into shock.

"But why?" Eli tried to turn his head in her direction, his eyes irritated and tearing up to the point of not being able to see anything more than shapes.

"Because he shouldn't have existed," she said, and Eli heard her rummage through the steel drawer that was beside the surface he was lying on. "Because Doctor Erskine was a traitor to the Reich, to the cause. Because they should have killed Isaiah Bradley as soon as the experiment was successful. Because with him serving, he gave other ground scum ideas."

The casualness of her tone astonished Eli, and rendered him speechless for a few minutes. Growing up, he had been exposed to racially insensitive incidents, but never like this. Just to be dismissed and killed because of what he was.

Finally, painfully, Eli groped for and found his voice. "He was an American, too. He died a hero."

"He died not knowing his place, even in his last moments."

"Trying to save the children from that bus, when -"

"No matter. He had to die. He was no son of America. Lessons had to be taught."

"Wait," Eli coughed, suddenly feeling the slackening in his bands, an almost imperceptible click. He coughed some more, hoping that the noise covered the soft click. He had to keep her talking, in order to get even a fraction of his strength back.

"Speak slower, I'm not following you. Why me?"

"Once we kill you, there will be no more meta humans of your kind. You people tend to breed, you know this. No more of that legacy which smears the U.S." Eli felt the prick of a needle against the inside of his elbow. "Fade into black, Elijah Bradley."

_Wait for it_ Eli paced himself. He only had one shot. The bands must have had some power nullifying things to them once they were clicked into place. Now that they were loosened, he felt the reserves of his strength coming back.

He still had excellent hearing, and -

The BOOM of the explosion ripped through the air, with the screams and shrieks around him. The bounds safely off, he found himself being helped to his feet, only to find that he couldn't stand up.

"Eli!"

"Cassie," he rasped, "what too- k you guys so long?"

"We had to shine the Cassie signal." Tommy's voice beside him, Eli felt his arm being draped over his teammate's shoulder, his legs being raised off the ground. "You're bleeding, Eli. You think you can hang on?"

"I - " Eli was fading fast. "I can... fight."

"Hold on, Eli," Tommy's voice in his ear, and the air around them shaking and pulsing. Eli closed his eyes, and faded away.

**Chapter Seven**

 

"Let's take this off."

Eli stirred, to the feeling of fingers against his face. The bandage came off, and he blinked, seeing a petite brownskinned woman in his vision. She had braids, drawn back into a queue at the nape of her neck. Her face was serious, and the only whimsy about her were her glasses, the same colour as the twizzler candies he used to eat as a kid.

"Dr. Reyes."

"The one and only," the young woman introduced herself as she adjusted the blood pressure cuff around his upper arm, her moves quick and competent. "Your vitals are strong, your wounds are healing nicely. I insist on bed rest, and frequent breaks from watching TV or reading things be it on the monitor or a book."

"Yes ma'am." Eli answered, wondering why he liked bossy women more than might be deemed healthy.

"I know that you have the super solider serum, and have made vast improvements in four days," Dr Reyes patted his arm. "But humour me and stay off that leg, okay? Mind your stitches."

"Okay."

As soon as Dr Reyes left, Eli drew his iBook on his lap, and booted it. The first thing he did was check his email. His fellow traceurs were taking their training to gym.

_ Heard that you were on leave, called to NYC for family matters? Bummer. Don't be a stranger, dude. Tsang_

Eli wrote a short note. _ Hey, got laid up. Some things I need to do._

The next message in his inbox made Eli blink. He opened it, and it was from Elena.

_Dear Eli, _

How are you? The word is,you're in New York on family business.

...

Family business my ass. I asked my room mate (who's studying forensics) to do a scan of this Patriot guy and you and the face structure matches...OMG, you're Patriot? Your grandad was Isaiah Bradley? I saw an article with him on ONTD_political once, re: World War II. Wild. I'm sorry that he died though, I'm sure that he was a great guy. I saw Kate Bishop on TV this morning, and man, she's frosty. So is it true that you and her were an item way back then? That's the word on can can, but you know what that site's like. The reason why I'm writing you is that I saw this link (link to the url enclosed) on ONTD_capes. Anyway, don't be a stranger. Take care of yourself, OKAY?

xoxo,

Elena

Eli starred the post, promising himself that he would answer Elena at length soon. He sent her a brief message. _Elena. Thanks for thinking about me, I hope you remember: thou shalt cite. Good luck defending your viva. Eli _

Only for him to get a letter in his inbox one minute later. _ Eli, I always cite. I just used that as an excuse to speak to you. You really thought that I didn't cite at this level? LOL. You're too cute! Thanks for the best wishes. Speak soon ._

xoxo,

Elena

Message read, he clicked back into ONTD_capes, and scrolled through the posts.

**Patriot back with the Young Avengers?**

_ According to well placed sources, the Young Avenger known as Patriot has been sighted in New York for the past week. It is alleged that Patriot might be back in the tights and with the Young Avengers...efforts to contact the other members to confirm or deny has been met with this statement from Kate Kildare, their public relations agent. "No comment."_

Take of it what you will, folks.

** Sons of America Captured**

_ click for audio_

Eli clicked on the youtube video which had been embedded in the post. The freeze frame photo was Kate, with her purple shades covering her eyes. As soon as he clicked to begin, the tinny notes of the lead announcer's voice came over the video.

_Lead by Hawkeye, the terrorist group Sons of America were caught in the caves of upstate New York. When asked the significance of the capture, she said,_ "It means that metahumans of all backgrounds will have the chance and honour to serve their country and conscience without fear of torture or punishment."

_When asked if Patriot had been a part of the team or helped in the capture, she side stepped the question. As you can see from this video._

"We don't comment on which meta human does what," Kate answered, her hand on her bow. "It's a team effort, and to call out individual performances would only undermine the group effort."

"Hawkeye, the reports have said -"

"Sorry, no comment."

The video stopped.

In response to the video being played, the rest of the posts were the usual mutterings.

Eli entered 'Isaiah Bradley' into the search engine, and for the first time in a while, he read the news report.

Although he had not read it in five years, Eli knew the key articles word for word. He had not been there, but away with the other Avengers fighting against Osborne and The Siege. Metahuman battles were not restricted to meta humans, unfortunately. In the age of youtube and smart phones and mini video-cameras, the incident was captured on film, and uploaded online.

Eli clicked on the youtube video and watched. A bus had overturned on its side in the middle of a busy street. Isaiah - well, Eli knew that his grandfather hadn't been mentally here for a long time. But he was aware enough to run over to the bus, and tore off the door in order to help the driver out. The angle of the camera was shaky, so the picture blurred at times.

When Isaiah Bradley grabbed the hand of a passenger on the bus, the blast of the plasma went through him, leaving nothing but blood on the person's hands, splattered across the screen of the camera. Ear splitting screams, a blur, before the screen cleared, with only the road and people's feet to be seen.

Eli clicked on to the other videos of that time. It was a vicious sort of test, to see if he could look at the footage without trembling with rage or wanting to burst with frustration.

_"I'm not saying that Isaiah Bradley can't be an American, but his family putting forth the claim that he's the first Captain America?" The shellacked newscaster smiled. "According to our reports, you might be exaggerating just a tad?"_

"No, sir." that Eli of five years ago said. Eli remembered his time on _The Report_ well. He went on the show, because his grandmother couldn't and his mother didn't want to. Now, looking back, he couldn't blame them much. "There's no reason why I'd be exaggerating, and for The Westbound Congregation to protest at the morgue where my granddad's body's being held. Well, it wouldn't have happened if he were -"

"Mr Bradley, are you saying that your grandfather's funeral got overrun because he was African American?"

"No, Sir, again. People have been disparaging his contributions because he wasn't seen as _American_?"

"Mr Bradley, in that light, people might read you as being too sensitive."

That was the first time Eli ever remembered being crippled by anger. He couldn't respond, because his grandmother would be watching him on TV. Took great pains to keep his hands in his lap, because he might have reached out and - he'd already disappointed his grandmother enough already. Eli did the only thing available to him. He got up, tore the microphone off his suit lapel, stormed off set and at a loose end, descended downstairs to just pummell at the punching bag.

He didn't know how long he was down there, until Teddy came down, worry in his eyes.

"I heard about your interview at the station. Sucks."

"Yeah," Eli stepped back, looked at his split knuckles and the blood. "Grandma wants to have the service for another time, since they've wrecked the funeral."

"I'm sorry, Eli. If you need money, I'm sure Kate would-"

"No." Eli half heartedly swiped at the punching bag. "I won't take her money. We'll manage."

"Eli," Teddy stood beside him, hands in his pockets. "You know what the press is like, if it bleeds it leads. Like Kate's dad says, any publicity is good publicity, right?"

"Yeah," Eli looked at the now battered surface of the punching bag. "Right.".

The second service had passed by in a blur, and Eli remembered the _disconnection_ he felt, as if he were looking at the events through glass. Jessica Jones wordlessly drew him into a hug.

Kate corned him at the end of the service, while he stood in the living room where his grandfather had spent his time.

_"I wish you'd speak to me," she said softly. "Or that you'd at least speak. It's not like you to be so quiet, Eli."_

Eli looked at her, as she stood in front of the window her hands linked before her, looking for all the world like personified decorum. Kate, a rich girl from the Upper East Side, and suddenly, Eli wanted to laugh. How could he even begin to explain what he felt about his grand dad's death, and the interview at the studio? It would be like trying to explain Doctorate Physics to a first grader, and for the first time, Eli had doubts about what they were, and what this was.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Make me." Kate linked her fingers with his, giving him that half smile which ordinarily would have gotten him out of his funk. But that was not the case today.

"I can't."

On a shuddering breath, Eli closed his iBook, and pulled his legs towards his torso, feeling some tightness, but not enough for discomfort. He couldn't have stayed with his team-mates then. Now, five years down the road, he was able to understand why.

"Boo."

"Tommy," Eli greeted, clearing his throat.

"You're alive, homes." Tommy stood beside the bed, arms folded across his chest. "I thought the way how you'd been sliced and diced, you might have been on the mend, for reals."

"I'm still weak," Eli admitted. "I don't think that I'll be urban running for a while."

"You'll live," Tommy said. "We always do. I'm going out, and won't be back until _later_." By the gleam in his eye, Eli had a pretty good idea of what Tommy might be doing while out.

"I'm sure it won't take that long."

"Now that's cold blooded, Eli." Tommy gave a short burst of laughter. "But seriously, on my way back, I might stop at an eatery, can I get you anything?"

Eli shook his head. "No, thanks."

Tommy snapped off a quick and ironic salute. "Aye, aye, Captain." He said and made to go.

"Tommy, wait."

Tommy poked his head out of the door, his hand raking his hair from his face. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything back there. The -"

"Dude, if I didn't do, I'd have been skinned alive. You know what Kate's like."

That aspect of Kate, he knew. "Yeah, I do. Thanks though."

Tommy rolled his eyes and in a blink, he was gone.

He dragged on jeans and a sweatshirt, before going downstairs to the balcony. He leaned against the sliding doors, and looked at the view of New York. The air now had bite, as the season would be edging from fall to winter.

It almost felt like old times, him crashing at YA HQ between home, school and work. Playing video games with Teddy in the next room, and somewhere, Kate would be speaking with either Cassie, Billy or Tommy. Or another time, towards the end, when he had toyed with the idea of studying for the SATs, and Teddy smirked, stretching his arm across the room to tweak Eli's ear. "What are you going to do, Library Studies?"

"Hey," Eli swatted at Teddy's hand, with the back of his. "Books are cool, and Library Studies is a lot more than that."

"True," Billy smiled, cracking open his books. "My mom would love you, Eli. You know, apart from the superhero thing. She thinks you're _polite_.

"She doesn't know Eli, then." Cassie gave him the finger.

"I know I didn't teach you _that_." Eli said, everyone laughed, study time forgotten for the while.

Eli smiled at the memory. It was so vivid, he shook his head free of the cobwebs, the HQ giving way to this sleek dinning room in the YA's new HQ. He saw Billy and Kate walking into the room. Kate's hands in the pockets of her hoodie, and he guessed that they had just come from the gym. Billy in a short sleeved t-shirt and sweatpants.

"I gotta ask," that was Billy. "Kate Kildare?"

"She's the best press agent around, right now." Kate answered. "She'll only be dragged in for the tricky situations we get into, and we will get into some."

"Because that's what we do." Billy answered with easy agreement. "I just – Eli, what are you doing up?"

"Felt - bored," Eli said. "Besides, I -" There was nothing to it but to say it, he supposed. The four days that he had been on enforced bedrest gave him time to mull over his options, and realise that there was only one. "I'm thinking about staying in New York."

"Eli, man, that's -" Billy crossed over and clapped Eli on his shoulder. "That's great."

"Yeah," Eli laughed, feeling more than a little relieved. If Billy was for it, then he'd be okay. "I'll find an apartment. But in a different neighbourhood, because I can't afford the rents in dem here parts, and -"

"You don't have to leave."

"Annnd that's _my_ cue to go." Billy said, before chanting**tomyparentshousetomyparentshousetomyparentshouse**

Before Eli could raise his hand to say otherwise, Billy faded from view, leaving him and Kate behind. Today seemed to have been her day off from whatever – no smart suit, no costume, just an oversized sweater and jeans.

"Yeah, I do." Eli said. "I know I want to come back to NYC, but I think -"

"No," Kate grabbed at his hand. "We're _so_ not doing this again. You're not going anywhere."

"Kate."

"No, listen. Our relationship is... complicated. But in the larger sense, we're family. Even if you never thought about us for the time you were away -"

"I did," Eli linked his fingers with hers. "I always did, Kate. I – that picture in my room. The one with me at Chicago U-"

"Billy transported us there, kept us invisible while we watched. Cassie took the picture. She wanted to."

"You were there -" Eli shook his head, blinking away the burn from his eyes for the second time that day. "You guys were there for my graduation?"

"Considering you're the first in the family to finish college..."

"Kate," Eli shook his head. "That's weird."

"You can be a stupid man at times, Eli."

"Only around you," Eli admitted with a smile. "I'll try not to be Captain Fontrum this time around."

"Captain Fontrum?" Kate stroked her chin as if she were in deep thought. "I _like_ it. If Patriot doesn't work out -"

"Woman, don't even-"

Kate laughed. "You're too easy, bub."

"Not the new and updated model of Patriot 2.0. This time, I am _correct_."

"Eli," Kate raised her eyes to his. "I'm sorry about -"

"Same. But we'll talk about it later, okay?" Eli squeezed her hand, and they would. Now that he knew what to say. Kate lowered her eyes to their linked hands, raised her eyes to his, and nodded.

"Fine," Kate nodded. "Later. I'll hold you to that."

"Right now, I realised that I haven't had a hot dog since I've been back. You've been slipping. No hospitality."

Kate raised her eyebrows and gave him _that_ look. "With what's in those hotdogs? You're welcome. Don't mention it. Really."

Eli leaned forward, touched his forehead to hers. Kate angled her head, and didn't move away when he leaned in, her hand on his shoulder as she shifted the weight of her body to her toes. Their lips brushed, and Eli hoped that Kate had a lightning rod for this building, or otherwise it might prove expensive. He didn't say that, though, because ugh, uncool.

Kate's hand on his shoulder, and what the hell, Eli lifted her in a spin, her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck and their heads level.

"I'm sticking around this time, Kate. I'm up for joining the team again, if you'll have me."

Kate gave a quick, jerky nod, her nose bumping against his. "Yeah, I think we have room for a patriot and a super-soldier." She bit her lower lip, and it was the second time since this go around that Kate wasn't one hundred percent composed. "I'm glad you're back. I'm sorry about what you came back to -"

"I'm glad I came back." He touched her cheek with his fingers, and she held it there for a moment with the palm of her hand. "Everything else, we'll work through, or kill each other trying."

Kate gave a jerky nod before throwing her arms around his neck and drawing near. Eli couldn't help it, he laughed, and Kate joined in, before they kissed, for real this time. Tentative at first - it had been five years- with a cautious press of lips. Kate angled her head, opened her mouth to his, and tasted of ground coffe, chocolate and her. Eli drew her closer to him, took a step back -only to bump into the glass behind him with an all mighty clatter. Kate broke the kiss to laugh, only to stop, and kiss him again.

Okay, so he still had some bugs to work out on the Patriot 2.0 model. Like the ones that made him still stupid over Kate, but he could live with that.

End.


End file.
